Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to aircraft passenger comfort components, and more particularly, to improvements in aircraft passenger seating cushions and the like.
Prior Art
Commercial aircraft have historically utilized a variety of passenger seating configurations and designs historically using heavy and bulky materials that satisfy certain structural design and passenger comfort requirements. However, since the amount of legroom and personal space in a commercial aircraft influences the overall comfort of the passenger, the bulky materials and thick padding normally utilized in conventional aircraft passenger seats consume precious cabin space that could otherwise be used for increased legroom, or in the aggregate, to allow for additional rows of seats. Such bulky materials have long been considered necessary for structural support and thick padding has often been deemed necessary to provide sufficient cushioning for the seated passengers.
More recently, commercial aircraft design has placed extreme importance on the benefits of lightweight components and other desirable features that can improve passenger comfort and convenience. This is particularly apparent in aircraft seat design because the aircraft is typically configured with hundreds of such seats, and customer comfort is of paramount concern.
Over the years, conventional economy class seat cushion designs have relied almost completely on foamed rubber cushioning schemes which suffer from a variety of short-comings, including compromises made between durability and comfort. In the seating scheme of a typical airplane, the thickness and density of the foams used in the cushion and backrest are carefully balanced between passenger comfort and the overall weight of the seat cushion.
Prior conventional seat design approaches, particularly for economy seating, attempted to improve seating cushions by allocating different foam densities and types to specific regions of the cushion. The desire to relieve pressure and discomfort related to long term sitting was hopefully achieved by judicious selection and positioning of the various foam materials, but this alone was insufficient to enhance safety and maneuverability in a hard landing situation.
Varying the variety and quantity of foam cushioning materials can yield improvements in comfort, but this will not necessarily furnish a meaningful or substantial improvement. Furthermore, the reliance on foam as the sole supporting element of a relatively comfortable seat cushion generally means that such foam will lack sufficient durability required for long in-service life and will offer little in the way of safety and maneuverability improvements.
Aircraft cushions have heretofore not included a component specifically designed to isotropically flex and spread forces incurred in the specific and tightly controlled load conditions experienced in a hard landing. The present invention specifically addresses such loads and thereby enhances passenger safety by absorbing sudden energy spikes under emergency situations. The resilient honeycomb materials used in accordance with the present invention minimize the transfer of large energy spikes to the legs, pelvis and spine of a seated passenger, and thus tend to reduce the likelihood of disabling injury and thereby improve the passenger's mobility in situations requiring rapid emergency egress.
The new cushion designs of the present invention thus provide enhanced comfort levels, meet all anthropometric seating requirements and at the same time improve passenger safety. These improvements to seat cushion design can be readily incorporated into modern aircraft seat support configurations, as well as other conventional seat support design configurations. With the subject seat cushion design to be described hereinbelow, even an economy class seat can be enhanced in terms of safety, comfort and weight. The improved embodiments also offer additional design choices to aircraft purchasers by improving this important aspect of seating.
These improvements are achieved, in part, by utilizing resilient honeycomb, energy-absorbing padding materials either exclusively or in combination with traditional foam components. In the latter case, the resilient energy-absorbing honeycomb materials combine with the foam or other seat cushion materials and serve to reduce the forces that may be transferred from a seat support structure to the spine, pelvis and femurs of the passenger during a hard landing, and even enhance the passenger's ability to rapidly exit the aircraft in some emergency situations. The use of applicants' unique honeycomb materials thus serves to improve passenger safety and maneuverability in hard landing scenarios.
It will thus be appreciated that the subject improved cushion design also achieves enhanced comfort and an improved margin of safety through its unique use of resilient honeycomb padding materials and element shapes and configurations.
Accordingly, an important objective of the present invention is to provide an improved passenger seat cushion for aircraft applications.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a passenger seat cushion design having an improved combination of comfort and safety features.
Other desirable features and characteristics of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing background discussion.